Evil Inflicted Hero
by Karrot Gold
Summary: A story I've had in mind for a while, that features an unexpected twist in Sonic. I've tried to explore each character as deeply as possible, focusing on Amy and Metal Sonic. All of these characters belong to Sega. Please review, it's my first fanfic!
1. The answer's so obvious

**where good dies,**

**evil will arise.**

A steel cloud floats menacingly over Mystic Ruin, the last relic of a once mighty Echidna tribe. The silhouette against the blue sky creating a booming echo of foreboding terror, swam like a great white shark through the high altitude towards Angel Island. This island was once a glorious sight of superiority that floated in midair above the ocean. It was held there by the energy generated from a huge gem in the centre of the island. This is known as the Master Emerald. However, what now seems an age ago, a creature of pure energy that resided within the Master Emerald known as Chaos was released, taking with it most of the gem's power. It could no longer keep Angel Island afloat, thus it fell into the sea. Even after fixing the jewel, and raising the island again, it lost too much power, and fell once again. Now it is under threat from the much recognised villain, Dr Ivo Robotnik (more widely known as Dr Eggman). He is a scientist with an amazing IQ of 300, but with dark intentions, slightly humoured by his strange obsession with eggs. He has tried to build what he calls The Eggman Empire many times, but unsuccessfully. He ponders a new way to take control in his flying fortress, the Egg Carrier 3.

"I've tried everything!" Was the cry from a very frustrated Eggman. His prized robot created in the image of his greatest foe lingered behind it's exasperated master. "I've released the Chaos creature from the Master Emerald, only to have it turn against me! I freed my grandfather's 'ultimate life form', and utilised his space colony's weapon, only to find that the cannon was unusable at full power! Then the robot copy that I built of that confounded hedgehog tries to take over my empire!" The robot behind Eggman shifted uncomfortably. While it had been reprogrammed to meet obediance specifications, it retained it's memories. The hedgehog Eggman spoke of, and the robot's organic counterpart was an anthromorphic, with the ability to run at the speed of sound. Thus, he is called Sonic The Hedgehog. Therefore, the robot copy was appropriately named Metal Sonic.

"Perhaps you could create a more efficient copy of Sonic?" Suggested Metal Sonic. Suggestions was a luxury not enjoyed by any other robots. They were far too inferior to address Eggman with stupid ideas.

"What's the point? I can't create a better mirror of him than you. Not unless I was to-" Eggman froze, then grinned slowly. "Of course. Why didn't I think of this before? Why settle for a mediocre copy, when I can have the real thing?!" Eggman left Metal Sonic to pilot the Egg Carrier 3, while he went to work elsewhere on the ship.


	2. The winds of change

"Give it your best shot, faker!" Was the cocky cry from Sonic The Hedgehog, as he was slightly crouched over a start line.

"This time, no interruptions. I've been dying to see who actually is the fastest! Sonic The Hedgehog versus the Ultimate Life Form! I'll remember this for years!" Whispered Shadow The Hedgehog, Sonic's lookalike. Up 'till now, neither of them have been able to finish a race, and their speed seems identical. The rivals beg to differ. Sonic smiled at Shadow's last comment, remembering that he suffered from amnesia for quite a while following his release from suspended animation in Eggman's old base. The race was ready to begin, and a twin-tailed fox was hopping in a blue plane they call the Tornado, which he would pilot to follow the rivals race.

"We're all set, Tails," Sonic saluted the kitsune, who fired up the Tornado's engines, and prepared to start the race. Sonic's self proclaimed girlfriend, the pink hedgehog called Amy Rose, was holding her breath, ready for the get-go, but was having a bit of a bother with a bug buzzing around her. Getting frustrated, she pulled her Piko-Piko hammer out of thin air and raised it to strike the insect!

"Amy, don't!" Cried a small peach-coloured bunny. The hammer-wielding hedgehog was distracted, and the bug got away.

"Thanks a lot, Cream! Now he's going to bother Sonic and Shadow!" The fly was heading over to the competitors. Cream The Rabbit inclined her head over to the bushes, which had green, yellow, and black leaves! Amy then realised that it was an anthromorphic bee called Charmy, who was obviously staring at Cream (he had a major crush on her).

"I don't want him to take offense!" Cream said, shrugging off the smirk from a red echidna. Amy scowled at him. The echidna was called Knuckles, due to his deformed hands. Normally, he'd be saving the world, or guarding the Master Emerald at Angel Island, but he too was interested in the outcome of this race. "They're about to st-"

"Argh! Damn it, Sonic!" Shadow was on the floor, covering his eyes! Sonic towered above him, smiled, and looked to the sky. The steel cloud creeped over the treetops.

"The Egg Carrier!" Cried Tails, who swerved the Tornado out of it's path. Charmy flew away, abandoning his leafy hiding place. The huge ship opened a hatch on it's underside. Sonic leaped onto the Tornado, then into the hatch! The Egg Carrier began to depart, but Tails flew to attack the ship! A huge blast of laser shot the Tornado out of the sky! Sonic's voice echoed from the ship.

"Quit following me around...buddy!" They all sensed the dangerous sarcasm in the last word. Amy stood staring at the Egg Carrier, statue-like. She whispered after it.

"...That's...not...Sonic. It...can't...b-" She collapsed, and remained silent.


	3. Tough decisions

"Sonic, slow down!" Amy cried. She was chasing him playfully across Emerald Coast, lit by the sunset's green ray. Sonic halted, and turned slowly. As he did, the sun vanished behind the horizon, and so did the green colour of Sonic's eyes. This was replaced with a burning red, and a devilish grin. Amy screamed, and collapsed into the sea...

Several familiar shoes, and a crashed plane began to swirl into focus as Amy awoke. Dripping in water used to awaken her, she began to stand, but slowly. She felt a warm, fuzzy sensation wash over her, as Cream gave her a tearful hug.

"You scared us! That was the seventh bucket of water we used!" Cream clutched Amy tighter, who looked to see Tails sitting by a tree, whose expression was blank. He looked empty of all emotion, but filled with deep thought. He was completely oblivious to the pestering from Cream's pet Chao, Cheese. She then saw Knuckles and Shadow discussing something with serious, almost grave, frowns. She heard them mention Sonic's name, which triggered her memory of Sonic's departure. They confronted the rest of the group.

"It's obvious what's happened," Spoke Shadow, with his voice twice as whispered than normal. "Sonic is no longer one of us," Cream snorted.

"That's right, it is obvious," She muttered, thinking an idiot with half a brain would have worked that out. Shadow cast her a stern look, and Knuckles took over.

"Therefore, Sonic is a threat, and must be...-" Knuckles stopped abruptly. He was frozen, unable to continue. Shadow stepped in again, but with a hand on Knuckles shoulder. Empathy was most unlike Shadow. This had to be serious.

"...Dealt with." Shadow seemed to have no problem adressing this to Sonic's closest friends, almost as if he was contemplating the weather, but there was something more. "He must be eradicated. He shot his best friend out of the sky, thus proving he has immersed too deep into the pool of evil to be saved," Amy thought that sounded rather poetic by Shadow's standards but then realised what he was saying. She and Tails exploded.

"No!" They both shook with anger, or despair at the thought. Even they weren't sure which. Shadow and Knuckles were the most aggressive of the group. If they set their minds on something, it was happening. Nevertheless, even they jumped at the shout from Tails and Amy. It was the first thing they had said since Sonic left. Tails seemed strong enough to argue.

"He is not beyond saving! He's done more good than anyone here, and if anyone can fight evil, albeit themselves, he can! Both of you used to be bad guys, and you changed!" Shadow and Knuckles were prepared for this, and remained unwavered.

"We thought of how we reformed in the hopes that Sonic would too," Knuckles was speaking clearly, but was still finding it difficult. Next to Tails and Amy, he'd known Sonic for a long time. "But we then realised that we didn't conquer our own evil. I wasn't even a true villain, because I was misled by Eggman into believing that you and Sonic ( He nodded at Tails) were after the Master Emerald. When I found I was fooled, I switched to your side." Shadow stepped froward.

"And I was changed when Amy triggered a memory of Maria's last wish, which was to save the people of Earth, rather than get revenge on them. I didn't change myself," He said, referring to the time on Space Colony ARK, where he almost wiped out the planet, before remembering his closest friend who was killed fifty years ago by the G.U.N military. Tails was on the verge of tears. Whilst the most intelligent of the group, he was only eight, and this was his best friend that they were going to kill. Amy had heard enough, and had been silently making a difficult decision. She began to leave. Cream called after her.

"Amy, where are-" She couldn't finish, as Amy whirled around also in tears.

"Do what you want! You're all monsters! Sonic is always there to protect you, and if his reward is death, then...-" She seemed too distraught to continue, but couldn't take in the fact that Sonic was a villain. Regaining her senses, she spoke again. "That is not Sonic. It is not possible. Eggman did something to him, and I'm going to save him," She left, and the finality of her voice kept anyone from calling her back. Shadow and Knuckles walked in the opposite direction, hardly acknowledging eachother. The silence was unsettling. Tails and Cream were left. Tails seemed to have thought of something, and spun his tails to fly away, when Cream broke the silence, and asked him where he was heading.

"Eggman's usual target are the Chaos Emeralds, so if I can gather them first, we may bargain to get Sonic back with them," Cream knew this meant giving Eggman complete control over the world, and that Tails' objective was clouded by friendship. Still, she joined him, and the silence was dominent once again.


	4. Metallic revival

Thunder, rain and lightning. A simple way to describe that night at Angel Island. It could be an omen, lurking above the recently forgotten 'trash' that Eggman left here not too long before venturing after Sonic The Reformed Hedgehog. The 'trash' lay at the top of an alter, it's metal, blue shell reflected the eerie green glow emitted from the Master Emerald. The 'trash' stirred, stood and spoke.

"Self orientation in progress," Said the cold, robotic voice. It's glowing red eyes flickered against the jet black where there should be white. "Metal Sonic. Location: Mystic Ruin...Angel Island...Alter...Master Emerald." Metal Sonic turned to the gem equal his size. "Master Emerald...the power source that revived me from deactivation." He touched it, and felt it's warm, brotherly energy surge through Metal Sonic's cold, steel body. He used it's power to retrieve the lost data that made him invincible to all, but Super Sonic, Semi-Tails and Semi-Knuckles. This time, Metal Sonic wouldn't let anyone match that power, because those Chaos Emeralds had his name on them!

"Where do we start?" Shadow enquired, as he and Knuckles wandered aimlessly around the old castle town of Soleanna. Neither of them spoke much, still unsure whether they were doing the right thing. Knuckles shrugged.

"White Acropolis?" Was his reply. He hadn't invested much thought in his answer, and Shadow could tell.

"That was a guess, and they won't get us anywhere! If we're going to successfully kill Sonic, we need to be focused. Now give me an intelligent answer!" Shadow was aggitated, and wasn't afraid to show it. Still, Knuckles remained unaffected by Shadows annoyance. Then, he turned and made eye contact with Shadow, saw his purple eyes as a hellish javelin of spite. Shadow actually flinched slightly.

"I'm sorry that I'm not very enthusiastic about killing a friend!" Knuckles was gritting his teeth, towering above Shadow. His outburst made his fists clench, protruding his pointed knuckles. He's been known to get mad before, but not at this standard. He could very easily kill an innocent man (at a push, a child). If this was the case, why couldn't he kill Sonic?

"I'll contact Rouge at G.U.N. If they're monitoring Eggman, they'll know where to find him." Shadow ignored Knuckles, whether it was understanding, or ingnorance, neither had a clue. Either way, no-one could deny that Knuckles' face softened when Shadow said Rouge's name. She was a treasure hunter, like Knuckles, and a part time government spy at G.U.N. She was a bat with white fur, and she had many missions with Shadow. She has a small rivalry with Knuckles, with whom she flirts. She also teases Shadow, but he is never affected.

"Oh...batgirl. The thief," Knuckles said turning away. He only insulted her through his confusion. He still gets flashes of when he saved her life at the ARK. There seemed to be a moment where they connected through their eyes. Love had always confused him, and thought it only hindered and clouded. He saw what happens when love turns nasty. The image of Amy collapsing in the sea washed over him. He wondered how she hoped to save Sonic. Damn love.


	5. Chaotix and Chaos Emeralds

Bang! Tears and leaves swirled about an unlucky tree. A tree which was just struck by Amy's Piko-Piko hammer. She was completely unstable and confused. She had questions, but no answers. With each strike at the tree, she would cry these questions into the wind, only to be replied which the cracking of twigs.

"Where's Sonic gone?!" Whack. "How could they kill him?!" Smack. "Why didn't he protest?!" Bash. "And," Pow. "Why," Smash. "Am," Crack. "I," Boom. "Hitting-"

"What the hell's going on out here?!" Yelled a big, green crocodile. He was wearing a gold chain, and headphones. Amy thought for a moment how he could hear her tantrum wearing them. She even rubbed the sea of tears from her sore eyes to mkae sure she was seeing right! "Wait...I remember you. You're that girl who thought I was gonna ask you out on a date!" Amy racked her brains to try and recall this. She then remembered being ordered to hand over Cheese, Cream's Chao when she was hunting for Sonic with the rabbit and a fat cat, called Big. Ironic that she meets this croc whenever she's looking for Sonic.

"I...was...it...sorry," Her voice was still croaky, and being caught hitting a random tree with a hammer, crying her eyes out, and trying to recall an event that occured a while back wasn't helping her situation. The croc could see that she was in no way to walk down memory lane for long before she remembered why she was crying.

"Vector The Crocodile of the Chaotix Detective Agency," He said proudly, thinking it best to change the subject (whatever that was). He held out his hand for a shake (that's a _handshake _pervs). Amy didn't respond to his hand, but tried a smile. She only just managed to pull it off. "There's obviously something up. Why don't you come to the office, and we'll discuss it with my collegues?" Amy wasn't too sure. Aside from a small confrontation a while back, he was a stranger. Then the name 'Chaotix' triggered another memory. One of Charmy Bee bragging about being a part of the group to Cream. If Charmy was there, it wasn't too dodgy.

"Thanks. Um...where is your office?" Vector took her to Chaotix HQ, where she was reintroduced to Espio The Chameleon. She remembered him from when they tried to steal Cheese. He reminded her of Shadow a little. But when she asked him if anything would make him want to kill a friend and he said no, she changed her mind. What she forgot was that Shadow never said that he wanted to kill Sonic, he said that he needed to. After struggling through the explanation, Chaotix said that all they could do was find Eggman, which should be where Sonic is. They needed a night to do it, and offered Amy a room where they looked after clients with someone after them. She took it, needing a lie down to clear her head.

Tails, Cream and Cheese were heading for Westopolis, where they had hidden their stash of Chaos Emeralds. The Tornado was lowering itself onto an unrepaired building. It was beyond fixing, after Shadow's past came back to haunt him in the shape of extra terrestrials called the Black Arms. Their leader, Black Doom, had visited this city personally, and the scortch marks remained on this building to prove it. Tails hopped down from the plane to grab the emeralds, and take them back to his workshop for extra security. He moved aside the piece of debris that hidden them.

"Argh! They're gone! Cream, Eggman beat us to it!" The blood drained from Cream's face. They had five emeralds hidden here. "At least he doesn't have them all." Cream stared at him blankly. She had no idea how Tails could garantee that. He reminded her that the Tornado used one emerald for power. There was just one emerald left to be found, providing Eggman didn't have it already. Cream gathered her senses.

"Let's get going." And they got back into the blue, steel Tornado, and headed off to find the last emerald. Blue, steel sounds familiar. 


	6. The love triangle

"Hi boys, long time no see," Rouge The Bat said with a wave and a wink. She had arrived at Radical Highway, where the new G.U.N rendevous point was based. Shadow gave her an acknowledging nod, and Knuckles turned to face her (his face was as red as his fur). They both had their arms folded. Rouge cocked her head. "You guys are in a talkative mood."

"What! We haven't said anything in the last half hour!" Knuckles blurted out. His infactuation with Rouge's tight catsuit was obviously blinding him from noticing the sarcasm in her voice. When he realised this, his fur looked grey compared to the colour of his face. Shadow tapped his foot impatiently. He'd never understood this sort of behaviour, and he wasn't about to start.

"Did G.U.N inform you of why we asked your help?" His arms unfolded, and he placed his hands on his hips. He didn't notice that Rouge's eyes followed this movement, and they lingered at their destination. She snapped back to reality.

"Uh...yeah. The G.U.N Commander is personally overseeing the search for Eggman. When that ship is found, we're to wait until it's landed before we move in. Why has finding Eggman suddenly been top of your priority list?" Knuckles had unfortunately spotted the movement of Rouge's eyes, and rubbed his head, looking the other way.

"How close does the Commander think he is to finding Eggman?" Shadow put a slight emphasis on 'Commander', and it sounded bitter. He still holds a slight grudge against him for accusing him of being responsible for Maria's death, regardless of the fact that fifty years ago, Maria was Shadow's world. He had no other friends. His creator, Gerald Robotnik, thought much of Shadow, but instead of expressing this, he treated him like a lab rat.

"Fairly close, but he said at least twelve hours is needed. We'll have to think of something to do until then," Rouge said as she stepped closer to Shadow. Knuckles had become forcibly interested in the colour of the tarmac, and stared at it without moving (apart from the sweat-drop). Shadow folded his arms again.

"We'll use the twelve hours to think up a plan to k...defeat Sonic." Shadow didn't know why Knuckles looked so uncomfortable, but he didn't want to make him worse by using as strong a word as kill. Rouge hadn't asked why Shadow ignored her previous question, but after what Shadow just said, she was all ears.

"What's up with Sonic?" Her eyes were usually half closed to show off her big blue eyelids, but now they were wide open. Knuckles couldn't resist using his own eyes to photograph hers. It would take amnesia worse than what Shadow suffered to take those turquoise vessels of enigma from his memory bank. Shadow was giving Knuckles an annoyed look, knowing that he'd have to do all the talking.

"Sonic shot Tails out of the sky, and ran off to join the doctor. He needs terminating." Rouge gasped in shock. She thought it impossible for Sonic to attack his most loyal friend. She looked out of breath, which made Knuckles' neck prickle.

"So, Sonic's joined Eggman?" Shadow nodded.

"We assume so." At this, Rouge groaned in depair. Knuckles repeated the groan in his head against his will, and started to sweat buckets, as well as interchanging the foot he put his weight on every three seconds. "I can stop Sonic in his tracks with my Chaos Control," Shadow informed, obviously focused on this rather than what Rouge wanted to know. "The problem is, in order for it to stop Sonic when he's running at top speed, I need a Chaos Emerald. This should heighten Chaos Control enough." Shadow's main advantage over others in combat is his avility to manipulate time and space using energy from Chaos Emeralds. He can use these powers without an emerald, but they're never as powerful.

"Hold on..." Knuckles had calmed down and had a sudden brainwave. He muttered something under his breath. "The controller serves to unify the Chaos..." Shadow tapped his foot again.

"Are you going to tell us, or should we guess?" Knuckles glared at Shadow, already hostile towards him for attracting Rouge's attention. Rouge thought nothing of Knuckles' look-of-death, and was paying too much attention to Shadow's chest. This only fueled Knuckle's anger further, but he held it back.

"Instead of the Chaos Emeralds, could you use the Master Emerald to induce Chaos Control?" Knuckles asked through gritted teeth.

"That depends. What makes you think it would work?" Shadow was interested to see where Knuckles was going with this.

"There's an ancient teaching that the Echidna Tribe of eight-thousand years ago learned. 'The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos.' You would be using Chaos Control with the 'controller'. That would surely magnify your abilities." Shadow thought for a moment, then nodded.

"You're not such a 'knuckle-head' after all. Let's head to Angel Island." Shadow started to leave, and Knuckles offered to let Rouge ride on his back, as he glided down from the highway (even though Rouge had wings). Rouge was distracted, however, by Shadow's tail. At least, Knuckles hoped it was the tail that Rouge was staring at. She glided after the black hedgehog, while Knuckles wondered why he was so out-of-character by offering Rouge a ride. He tried to think of other things, so he stared instead at the blue robot on patrol for G.U.N. It wasn't the only blue robot around.


	7. Amy's new unspoken destination

"I don't understand how Sonic and Eggman could've got to our Chaos Emeralds first! The Egg Carrier was going in the complete opposite direction!" Tails had been ranting like this to Cream since they left Westopolis. They were now near Prison Island, and that's a lot of ranting. "The only way it could be possible is if-"

"-Sonic got off the ship and ran. Yes, Tails. You've said that seven times now," Interuppted a very bored Cream. "You haven't stopped talking for ages. Have you even been paying attention to where we're going?" Tails was a little taken aback. Cream was a very patient, well mannered and sweet six-year-old bunny, and would never interupt someone while they were speaking. She was also very fond of Tails, and wouldn't ask a negative question of him.

"Err...wh-...of course I've been paying attention!" He still needed to swerve the Tornado a little to the right, so he must've been a little distracted! "We're headed to Station Square. That's where the my scanner's picked up the last Chaos Emerald. At least then, with the one powering the plane, we'll have two to his five." They both knew that still wasn't good. Cream bowed her head between her knees. Tails knew she didn't get air sick.

"What's up?" Cream looked up crying.

"It's Amy. She collapsed when she saw Mr. Sonic turn bad," Tails loked confused.

"Yeah, I know. We woke her up, so what's the problem?" He knew he said wrong when Cream glared at him. She had a bazooka loaded with spite in her eyes.

"So! What if she passes out again?! What if she's already passed out?! What if she's...dead?!" Cheese the Chao used his red bow tie to mop up her tears. Tailswas ashamed. He'd been so focused on Sonic in the situation, and completely forgotten the others. He even forgotten that he's trying to stop Eggman and saving Sonic before Shadow and Knuckles find and kill him!

"Cream...we'll be fine. We _all_ will. I promise." The Tornado sped up to Station Square.

Amy was shrouded in darkness. She couldn't see anything around her. However, for some strange reason, she could see her hands when she held them to her face. This was unsettling. She wanted out...now. She knew someone would save her. Then, a blue hedgehog swirled into focus in front of her. They had there back to her, and she stepped forward. The hedgehog turned, with that same devilish grin. The eyes on it were completely black, apart from the firey red iris. It had Sonic's body, but not his eyes. It spoke with a deep, almost robotic voice.

"Third time lucky!" She didn't know what that meant, but she'd heard that voice before. She screamed, and grabbed the creature around the neck.

"Get off me you crazy...!" Amy saw the creature disappear, and a purple chameleon materialised in it's placed, and the darkness was replaced with tall, flooded buildings, then with a nice looking room. "I said get...off!"

"It wasn't physically happening, but it was real..." Amy said slowly, releasing Espio The Chameleon. He stepped back from Amy, and rested his hand on a shuriken ninja-star.

"Vector said he's found either Eggman or a large G.U.N ship. It's-" Amy held up her hand to silence Espio. She looked as though she was in a trance.

"I know where to find him..." She stood, and left Chaotix HQ without a word. Neither Vector, Espio or Charmy were able to reason with her, for she didn't react to anything they said. Her face was frozen, and her body took her to where she needed to be. Information that she alone knew.


	8. Tolerence slips away

"No...No way! This is some kind of sick joke!" Knuckles was boiling with hatred, for he had arrived at Angel Island. His plan was to use the Master Emerald to enhance Shadow's Chaos Control, but the green, gleaming gem was missing! "I've failed for the third time! Some guardian I turned out to be!" He slammed his fist into an eight-thousand year-old pillar, and watched it crumble to the ground, just as his pride did. Shadow kicked a stone into the ocean.

"How could someone move a thing that big without attracting attention?" He inquired, watching the ripples in the water. Knuckles sat on the grass with a very concerned expression on his face.

"It can change sizes, but I thought only I could make it do that," He said, closing his eyes. Rouge walked over to Shadow.

"To think, once upon a time, I'd of done anything to get that emerald from him, now I'd do anything to get it back to him. How do you think it got stolen?" Shadow crossed his arms and growled.

"It wouldn't of gotten nicked if that echidna wasn't a lousy guardian!" Rouge stepped back from him, but then she growled too.

"He shouldn't take all the blame! If you and Sonic hadn't had such a huge ego conflict, Knuckles wouldn't have left this miserable island!" Shadow turned and gave her the kind of look that suggested he was going to see if it wasn't too late to join the Black Arms aliens!

"He chose to come!" His voice had risen significantly, but Rouge didn't flinch.

"Looking at this place, I'd find any excuse to leave!"

"Your responsibilities come first!"

"After what you told me, Maria gave you the responsibility to protect the people of Earth, yet you started by trying to blow up the planet!" Shadow roared and lunged at Rouge! The mention of Maria had got to him! He brought a fist round to hit her, but it was caught just an inch from her face by a large red blur. Knuckles had leapt in the way, and stopped Shadow's strike reaching Rouge. The hedgehog and echidna were suddenly engaged in combat but since Shadow was using Chaos Control to warp here and there, there wasn't much danger. Until Knuckles got sick of being toyed with, and he hit Shadow right in the stomach!

"Grrr...Chaos Spear!" Shadow launched sharp energy projectiles from his hands, and Knuckles fell to the ground, bleeding, after one of the 'daggers' clipped his side! "I have no time for this. I have a hedgehog traitor to kill, and if you come anywhere near me again, I will kill you. It's not like I havn't killed before." Shadow turned, and left Angel Island, as Rouge helped Knuckles to his feet. When they stood, they didn't let go of their hands, and the scene was very much like when Knuckles saved Rouge from falling into the lava at the ARK. The difference was, the moment was ruined by a crackling noise coming from Rouge's communicator.

"Rou-...uckl-...Me-...Sonic's here!" The voice belonged to Tails, and Cream's cry of pain and fear was audible in the background!


	9. The true evil

Rouge The Bat and Knuckles The Echidna were speeding to Station Square, after checking where the transmission on their reciever came from. They dreaded to think what they'd find. Station Square has seen tyranny before, in the form of Perfect Chaos. A creature made up of a water-like liquid. It absorbed the negative chaos energy from the Chaos Emeralds, and flooded the city! Only Super Sonic was capable of neutralising it. What do they do, though, when that very saviour becomes a personified Satan? When they arrived, the scene resembled the Black Arms invasion. It didn't take long before they found the Tornado, or at least what's left of it.

"Could Sonic have done this? I don't see any way that he could create destruction on such a large scale, unless Eggman ships backed him up," Knuckles said, inspecting the plane.

"G.U.N would've noticed and contacted me if that was the case. Saying of which, how come no-one has noticed this armeggedon? Whoever did this must've done it quietly...wait ...mass destruction and silence doesn't add up! Who the hell did this?!" Knuckles face was presenting deep thought, but he was staring at the scortch marks on the Tornado.

"I've seen this before. These burns are familiar. Where did I see it?" A flashing image of a metallic scorpion zoomed through his head. "No...way. I've fought and defeated him twice. Once with Chaotix, and once with you, and another ten..." Knuckles stammered, pointing to Rouge, who couldn't make sense of anything he was saying.

"Knuckles, slow down. What are you trying to say." Knuckles wasn't looking at her, but behind her.

"You..." He grabbed Rouge, and pulled her to the ground, with Knuckles sheltering as much of her as possible, narrowly avoiding a thin beam of light. Where the beam hit a building, it's scaffolded victim crumbled away. The next beam was aimed directly at Knuckles, and it was capable of killing him! The beam was launched, and Knuckles felt it's heat burn his face, then a strong breeze of wind passed through his dreadlocks.

"-Control!" Yelled a familiar voice. Rouge was cradling a badly injured Knuckles in her arms, on the roof of a nearby building (or a ruin). She opened her eyes to find Shadow standing above them. He crouched down to Knuckles. "It seems my Chaos Control was a second too late. Still, he avoided the full fury of that shot."

"Knuckles!" Tails was rushing over to the echidna, bleeding on his arms, legs, head, and both tails. "Thank God you got to him!" Rouge looked at Shadow, and asked how he knew Tails crashed at Station Square.

"Simple. I wasn't that far away when the reciever went off. I stopped to listen to it, and recognised the sound of the train station. You don't need any kind of special abilities to find what your looking for. When I found Tails and Cream, I potected them from further harm." Tails lifted Knuckles, and placed him next to an unconscious Cream. Tails checked Knuckles' injuries.

"There nothi-" He was cut off, by the loud sound of grinding metal. They all looked to the sky. A tremendous beam of light emitted from a small figure on the ground had blasted right through the approaching Egg Carrier! The battleship was cleanly sliced into two pieces! A roaring voice could be heard from the figure!

"Now, I drop _you _out of the sky as useless trash!" It was that chilling, unnatural voice that each of them had heard before. A speeding blue after-image rushed towards the figure. "Long time no see, Sonic! My loathsome copy!" They'd all heard this before. They knew who this was. This was a reborn Metal Sonic! As the organic original faced-off against it's robotic double, a final figure was emerging from a small alleyway who had the most serious, yet somehow blank expressions on their face. It was Amy.


End file.
